Dominicans win over Thailand 3-1
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The Dominican Republic had to fight hard to recover from a disastrous first set and overcome a feisty performance from Thailand before claiming their first ever World Grand Champions Cup victory with a 14-25, 25-20, 25-21, 28-26 win on the second day of the FIVB 2009 Women’s World Grand Champions Cup on Wednesday.
Prisilla Rivera led the scoring for the Dominicans with 19 points and she was supported well by Milagros Cabral de la Cruz with 16 points. The Thais were led by a strong performance from Onuma Sittirak with 19 points, including four service points.
With both teams making their debuts in this edition of the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup, Thailand dominated the opening phase of the game at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium as the Dominicans were clearly out of sorts, particularly on receiving, but also on setting. The Thais meanwhile defended well and Sittirak got into a good early groove with her spiking and power serves. Dominican Republic coach Marcos Kwiek was forced to call a second timeout at 3-12 as his team were in danger of falling apart.
Wilavan Apinyapong picked up three straight spiking points during a lengthy service spell by Sittirak that saw the Thais score nine straight points and build up a 16-6 lead. By this stage the Thais were in dominating form and Malika Kanthong and Apinyapong kept the pressure on the Dominicans as the set drew to its inevitable conclusion. Pleumjit Thinkaow brought up setpoint with a spike down the middle and Kanthong finished things off with a soft serve that fell into the middle of the Dominicans' court.
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With both teams making their debuts in this edition of the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup, Thailand dominated the opening phase of the game at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium as the Dominicans were clearly out of sorts, particularly on receiving, but also on setting. The Thais meanwhile defended well and Sittirak got into a good early groove with her spiking and power serves. Dominican Republic coach Marcos Kwiek was forced to call a second timeout at 3-12 as his team were in danger of falling apart.
Wilavan Apinyapong picked up three straight spiking points during a lengthy service spell by Sittirak that saw the Thais score nine straight points and build up a 16-6 lead. By this stage the Thais were in dominating form and Malika Kanthong and Apinyapong kept the pressure on the Dominicans as the set drew to its inevitable conclusion. Pleumjit Thinkaow brought up setpoint with a spike down the middle and Kanthong finished things off with a soft serve that fell into the middle of the Dominicans' court.
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